Jar-sealing apparatus.



No. 7H,2II.1 Y Patented Det. I4, |902.

i W. H.. HNISS.`

JAR SEALING APPARATUS.

(Application led Jan. 5, 1901.)

UNTTED STATES V PATENT OFFICE.

VILLIAM II. I'IONISS, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR OF THREE-FO-URTIIS TO BEECH-NUT PACKING COMPANY, OF CANAJOHARIE, NEW YORK, ACORPORATION OF NEV YORK, AND WILLIAM A. LORENZ, OF

HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

JAR-SEALING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 711,211, dated October14, 1902.

Application filed January 5, 1901. Serial No. 42,176. (No modeh) T0 allwhom, '1115 may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. HoNIss, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and a resident of llartford,in the countyof Hart-- ford andState of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Jar-` Sealing Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is an improved apparatus for exhausting and hermeticallysealing jars, cans, and similar receptacles. y

Figure lis a side view of this improved apparatus in section, takensubstantially along the line l l of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a front view ofthe apparatus in section, taken along the line 2 2 of Fig. l.

I'Iermetically-sealed jars and similar receptacles are usually closed bymeans of a cap, an air-tight closure-joint being made between the jarand cap by means of an annular gasket of rubber or similar material. Inorder to allow of the ready exhaustion of the air from the interior ofthe jars during the exhausting operation, so as to insure asubstantially uniform vacuum in all of the jars equal to that obtainedin the receiver, it is desirable to have the caps rest lightly upontheir gaskets during that operation, and while in this condition itfrequently happens that the caps rest only upon the higher or largerportions of their gaskets, due to inequalities and irregularities almostinseparable from the manufacturing of the jars, the gaskets, or thecaps, or all together, thereby leaving intermediate opening's, which,while favorable for the ready exit of the air from the jars during theexhausting operation, are liable to allow the subsequently-readmittedair-pressure to enter the jars to some extent before forcing the capsdown hard enough or far enough to close those openings. Moreover, thecaps are for the same reason liable to become tilted, so that they donot finally bear with a uniform pressure around the gasket, even thoughthey may be forced down sufficiently to seal the jar for the time being,and in such cases are liable sooner or later to become unsealed, andthus allow the contents of the jar to be spoiled by contact with theair.

The object of this invention is to provide an apparatus whereby the,eapsmay, if desired, be allowed to rest loosely upon their gaskets withoutbecoming tilted during the exhausting operation and whereby the externalair-pressure may be readmitted and util,- ized to force the capssquarely down upon their gaskets with uniform, ample, and positivepressure without allowing the readmitted air to reenter theclosure-joint.

This apparatus in the preferred embodi-` ment illustrated inthe drawingsis employed as an adjunct to an ordinary air-exhausting receiver R,having an outlet-pipe O for connecting with any suitable airexhaustingpump. The presser-chamber 9 is supported in any suitable way `within thereceiver R. One of the walls of the chamber is a flexible diaphragm 10,substantially impervious to air, and therefore forming a substantiallyair-tight separation between the chamber 9 and the remaining interiorportion of the receiver, which thus constitutes a jar-chamber. Thechamber 9 is connected with the outletpipe O by means of a branch pipeo, a shutolf valve V being interposed in one of these two pipes betweentheir junction With each other and with the apparatus. The chamber 9 isalso provided with an inlet-valve Lwhich is closed during the exhaustingoperation. The jars J to be sealed are placed Within the receiver R,with one end, which is ordinarily the capped end, as herein shown,located substantially in the plane of the diaphragm l0.- As a convenientway of transferring these jars to and from the receiver, especially whenoperated upon in large numbers, they may be mounted upon a truck 12, theWheels of which rest upon the tracks 13, having inclines 14E forelevating the truck to bring the jars into suitable relation to thediaphragm 10 when they reach their exhausting position, the inclinesleading to lower levels, upon which the wheels travel while entering andleaving the receiver and which allow the jarl caps to clear thediaphragm.

In the operation of this machine the filled j rs having their capsplaced in position upon their respective gaskets are placed in thereceiver in the position shown in the figures. The front of the receiveris then hermetically closed and the exhausting operation begins, duringwhich time the valve V is open and the inlet I is closed, therebypermitting the air to be exhausted equally from the chamber il, theinterior of the receiver R, and the interiors of the jars. When asuitable vacuum has been thus obtained, the valveV is closed and theinlet-valve I is opened, thus permitting air to renter the chamber 9while excluding it from the interior of the receiver R, and therebyenabling the atmospheric pressure to have its full effect upon thediaphragm 10, which thus becomes a fiexible presser, serving to forcethe caps firmly down with all the force afforded by the atmosphericpressure, its flexibility enabling it to conform to the variations inthe heights of the jars, so as to press equally upon each. The valve Vis then opened, so as to readmit the air to the interior of the receiverfrom the chamber 9 by the way of the branch o and the outlet O. Thefront of the receiver may now be removed, the truck Vl2 withdrawn, andthe sealed jars replaced with a new lot to be treated in the same way.

' This apparatus may obviously be modified as to construction,arrangement, and mode of operation in many ways which will suggestthemselves to those skilled in the art to suit the number and kind ofjars to be operated upon or to suit other conditions of service. Wherethe nature of their contents permits, the jars may be inverted or may beturned upon theirsides. Undersomecircumstances it may be more convenientto have the presser bear against the bottom ends of the jars, it beingimmaterial which end receives the pressure so long as the effect is topress each jar and cap together with sufficient force to seal the jarbefore readmitting air to the closurejoint. The valve V may be omittedif the size and length of the connecting-passage O o between thepresserchamber 9 and the interior of the receiver R be made ofproportions which will prevent the air from reachpresser-chamber,provided with a movable j wall between the two chambers for pressingagainst the jars when the presser-chamber is expanded, and means forexpanding the presser-chamber by atmospheric pressure.

2. In a jar-sealing apparatus, the combination of a jar-chamber, apresser-chamber separated from the jar-chamber by a iiexible wall, andmeans for expanding the presserchamber with air-pressure, whereby theflexible wall is pressed with substantial uniformity and independenceupon all of the jars.

3. In a jar-sealing apparatus, the combination of a jar-chamber, and apresser-chamber adjacent thereto, provided with a movable wallinterposed between the two chambers, means for exhausting air from bothchambers, and means for readmitting air to the presser-chamber. y

4. In a jar-sealing apparatus, the combination of a jar-chamber, andapresser-chamber adjacent thereto, provided with a flexible' wallseparating, and hermetically sealing one chamber from the other, meansfor exhausting air from both chambers, and means for readmitting the airto the presser-chamber.

5. In a jar-sealing apparatus, the combination of a jar-chamber, and apresser-chamber adjacent thereto, provided with a flexible wall locatedbetween the two chambers substantially in the plane of the jar ends, and

sealing one chamber from the other, means WM. H.' noNIss.

Witnesses:

Jos. MERRITT, WILLIAM A. LORENZ.

